Just wanted to give a shout out to you Jim for this site. I am still learning to navigate some of the topics to find out the juicy nuggets that will increase my hiking/backpacking enjoyment, but so far so good.
I live in Colorado and now that the weather is getting nice I am hitting the trails with a renewed vigor but I have some questions. Please, anyone with an opinion should reply.

Most of my hikes are done with my wife and my toddler. He is 2 1/2 and weighs 30 lbs and I carry him 95% of the time in a special backpack for youngins. I weigh 215 lbs, the pack itself is about 3-4 lbs and my gear/clothing is another 5-8 lbs (depending on how many diapers and snacks the little guy needs). My superior math skills tells me that I am shunting damn near 260 lbs of weight everywhere we go. As you can tell, I get a solid work out and it is a lot of fun for everyone. I do have a question here:
What boots would be appropriate for these types of hikes considering that the hikes themselves are never more than 10 miles round trip but I feel like I have a heavy load requirement the entire time. We average 2 hikes a week but sometimes only 1. I have done a lot of research on the internet concerning the virtues of hiking boots and backpacking boots but so far can not come up with a conclusive answer. If anyone has ideas about what brand, model and type then I am all ears. Also, if you can give me some advice about how I can convince my wife into taking the child for a week while I hike about in the mountains on an extended trip then let me know what cha got.